First off, You’re using Nintendo – who has no idea how to handle online services, as an example. Yes, Nintendo is doing it wrong. No, they’re not indicative of what everyone is doing.

Second, lets look at the examples your talking about (I’m only going to talk about the ones I’m fimilar with so I’m going to exclude FF11)

RE5 – The argument for RE5′s multiplayer was that there wasn’t time for it in the game’s original development. Now… You might feel ripped off here. I’m not going to say if you should or not. But consider for a moment that all the other RE games have NEVER had online multiplayer and you were paying just about the same amount. Furthermore, I’d guess that if anything – Capcom did this to make a bit of money on further subsequent sales of used copies from gamestop as this content would not be transferable. Keep in mind that this content is not required to play the game is almost what amounts to a ‘bonus mode’. It’s more than likely an experiment on their part. If you like online – then you can buy it – but you don’t have to.

FF4:TAY – 100 points = $1 correct ? so 3700 points is $37 ? Now – divide $37 / 11 episodes and you’re talking around $3.50 an episode right ? If that gets you anywhere from 2-4 hours of game – I’d say that’s a pretty good deal when you consider what a TV show or movie costs you on iTunes. The advantage here is if you buy the first episode or two and don’t like it, you’re not out the whole purchase cost.

Mega Man 9 – Again – you’re paying for the base game and then there’s extra stuff you can buy – IF you want to. You don’t need to buy these things to enjoy the game – no one is putting a gun to your head. And again, consumers will vote on what they think has value with their dollars. My guess is this is clearly another experiment from Capcom.

Monkey island – This falls into the same category as FF4:TAY – $35 for all 5 episodes ? That’s a petty good deal if you’re getting 8+ decent hours of gameplay out of it.

The reason I like episodic gaming is that you can pay less and get less. You find out if you like a game or might try something you normally wouldn’t. Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t. But If you can pay over time and let your voice be heard WHILE the game is being developed – you have a chance to shift the course of development. We saw this during the Sam and Max episodes as Telltale listened to the community. So, if you don’t like a game, you’ve only invested 10-15 dollars instead of 50 or 60. Doesn’t that just make more sense?

I expect you’ll see almost more games go the TV route of episodic installments as people figure out where the sweet spot to charge for it is.

Episodic gaming is very different from DLC and they really are different animals. As far as DLC goes – its a win win situation as long as you can buy a game complete and beat it without having to shell out more money. Its a way for you to extend the life of your games, and gives you a reason to hold onto them instead of trading them in – which helps the publisher/developer. Burnout Paradise, Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Gears 2 (to a bit of a lesser extent) are prime examples of DLC done right.